169: Chapter 169 Seven Blueprints Acquired! New Signals Emerge from the Iron Hoof

12:15 PM.

A moving blip appeared on the radar panel.

Due north, eleven kilometers away.

Speed: forty-five kilometers per hour.

Lu Chen opened his eyes.

The communicator rang.

"City Lord Lu Chen," Zhao Tiezhu's voice said.

"You're back?"

"Back. Five people, one car, all safe and sound."

"The harvest?"

"Fifteen pieces."

Lu Chen's finger tapped once on the armrest.

"Fifteen intermediate source-fire coal crystals? That's three more than last time."

"The coal crystals on the outskirts are indeed decreasing, but the scavengers went a bit further today. They found a pile buried under rusty iron scraps on the edge, two kilometers outside the ruins."

"Did you encounter any Mutant Beasts?"

"We saw two intermediate Iron-Spine Wolves active deep within the ruins from a distance, but they didn't approach. The scavengers followed the rules and didn't go inside."

"Good. Bring the coal crystals up."

Fifteen minutes later.

An iron box was placed on the console, its lid opened.

Fifteen deep blue crystals were neatly stacked inside.

Lu Chen placed the crystals one by one onto the scanning area.

A blue light curtain enveloped them.

[intermediate source-fire coal crystal ×15. Total truth density: 765 points. Execute High-dimensional Decomposition?]

Seven hundred and sixty-five points.

Lu Chen pressed confirm.

The fifteen crystals slowly dissolved in the blue light.

Forty seconds later, they had all vanished into nothingness.

The numbers in the top right corner of the panel jumped.

Four hundred and forty-seven became one thousand two hundred and twelve.

One thousand two hundred and twelve.

Lu Chen stared at the number.

Enough.

Enough to intercept one thousand two hundred rocket strikes.

For conventional forces, it was more than enough.

But for the Iron Hoof Legion, it still wasn't enough.

However, it was nearly three times stronger than four hundred and forty-seven.

He pressed the communicator.

"Zhao Tiezhu."

"Present."

"The fifteen coal crystals have been decomposed. The balance is one thousand two hundred and twelve."

"Quite a lot more than last time."

"How much coal crystal stock is left on the outskirts?"

"The scavengers said there are still some scattered in the edge areas, but the density has dropped significantly. If we go for a third trip, we estimate we can pick up eight to ten pieces."

"Go again the day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow. Got it."

"This will be the last trip. After three trips, the outskirts will be mostly picked clean. Any further in is the territory of intermediate Mutant Beasts. The Patrol Car can't handle intermediate beasts."

"What if we need to fight intermediate beasts?"

"Then I'll have to go myself. But it won't be necessary in the short term. If Zhou Yuan can bring back blueprints from the Dawn Legion, one high-tier blueprint is worth dozens of coal crystals."

"When will Zhou Yuan be back?"

"At the earliest, communication will be restored tonight, and he'll arrive tomorrow morning. At the latest, the day after tomorrow."

"Waiting."

"Waiting."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen leaned back in the driver's seat.

One thousand two hundred and twelve.

This number gave him a bit more confidence.

The close-in weapon system consumed one truth point per interception. One thousand two hundred and twelve interceptions meant the Iron Hoof Legion would have to fire over one thousand two hundred rockets at the Polaris to exhaust his reserves.

Calculating based on one Lv.3 chariot carrying thirty rockets, it would take the full ammunition of forty chariots.

The Iron Hoof Legion had over ten lv.3 fortresses.

Each lv.3 fortress carried at least a hundred rounds.

One thousand two hundred and twelve still wasn't enough.

But at least it wasn't four hundred and forty-seven.

The communicator rang.

"City Lord," Chen Li's voice said.

"What is it? It's not even four o'clock yet."

"There's an emergency."

Lu Chen's back left the chair.

"Speak."

"A new situation has appeared in the signal monitoring of the Iron Hoof Legion."

"What kind of situation?"

"At 12:03 PM today, the radio automatically flagged a new signal."

Lu Chen's gaze shifted to the bottom right corner of the panel.

A new entry had been added to the signal log.

Dark red.

The flashing frequency was twice as fast as the previous one.

"Signal parameters."

"Pulse width 0.04 milliseconds, constant. Signal duration 0.7 seconds. Direction: 13 degrees West of North."

Lu Chen's finger paused on the armrest.

13 degrees West of North.

The last one was 15 degrees.

A shift of two degrees.

"Chen Li."

"Present."

"The direction shifted by two degrees."

"Yes. It changed from 15 degrees West of North to 13 degrees West of North."

"Signal duration?"

"0.7 seconds. More than double the 0.3 seconds of the last one."

Lu Chen pulled out the paper Zhou Yuan had left from a drawer.

Three indicators.

Pulse width constant at 0.04 milliseconds, military-grade equipment. Matches.

Signal duration greater than one second means detailed instructions. 0.7 seconds—not over a second. It falls between a timing pulse and detailed instructions.

Direction deviated from 15 degrees West of North. Shifted by two degrees.

Two degrees.

According to Zhou Yuan's conversion, a directional shift of over ten degrees is needed to confirm movement.

Two degrees is within the margin of error.

But it's not zero either.

"Chen Li."

"Present."

"Is the waveform data for this signal archived?"

"The radio archived it automatically."

"Forward the waveform data to my panel."

"Sent."

A waveform graph popped up on the panel.

Lu Chen stared at it for five seconds.

The waveform was more complex than the last one. The intervals between pulse groups were uneven, some long and some short, unlike a simple timing signal.

But it hadn't reached the complexity of detailed instructions either.

It was somewhere in between.

"Chen Li."

"Present."

"From now on, change the signal monitoring from once every hour to once every thirty minutes."

"Understood."

"If another new signal appears, no matter how much the direction shifts, notify me immediately."

"Yes, sir."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen leaned back in the driver's seat.

His gaze was pinned to the signal log.

Two dark red records.

One 0.3 seconds, 15 degrees West of North.

One 0.7 seconds, 13 degrees West of North.

Five days apart.

The second one was more than twice as long as the first.

The direction had shifted by two degrees.

Still within the margin of error.

But the trend was wrong.

The signals were getting longer.

The direction was shifting.

The second signal, after five days of silence, carried more information than the first.

This was definitely not a simple automatic beacon timing pulse.

This was an outpost scout vehicle sending a report back to base after gathering intelligence.

Lu Chen closed his eyes.

Zhou Yuan, hurry back.

11:00 PM.

In the cockpit, there was only the faint hum of the panel's current.

Lu Chen leaned back in the driver's seat, not asleep.

His gaze had remained fixed on the communication frequency list.

Zhou Yuan's frequency was still gray.

Fifty-second hour of disconnection.

It had exceeded the estimated forty-eight-hour limit.

The extra four hours were either a delay on the road or a longer stay at the Dawn Legion.

Or something else had happened.

He refused to think about the third possibility.

11:07 PM.

On the communication frequency list, Zhou Yuan's frequency jumped from gray to green.

It flickered.

The signal was weak.

Lu Chen pressed the communication button.

"Zhou Yuan."

Violent electromagnetic noise came through the communicator.

Then a voice.

Blurred and intermittent.

"City Lord... Zhou Yuan... iron wall... Returning."

The signal was too weak.

"Zhou Yuan, your position?"

"Five hundred kilometers away... Southern return route... Ash Rift Valley."

Five hundred kilometers.

Just entering the edge of the effective communication range.

The signal was audible but unstable.

"Mission result?"

"Success."

Lu Chen's fingers relaxed slightly on the armrest.

"The blueprints?"

"Got them. Seven copies."

Seven copies.

His breathing hitched for a beat.

"City Lord... Dawn Legion... has conditions."

"What conditions?"

"Signal unstable... Entering three hundred kilometers tomorrow... Detailed report."

"When will you enter three hundred kilometers tomorrow?"

"Around ten in the morning."

"Good. Status of the iron wall?"

"Engine normal. Fuel's enough."

"And the people?"

"All three are fine."

"Zhou Yuan."

"Present."

"You're coming back alive."

The noise in the communicator increased significantly.

Then came a faint chuckle.

"I promised."

The signal cut out.

The frequency turned back to gray.

But Lu Chen had already obtained the information he needed.

Mission successful.

Seven blueprints.

The Dawn Legion had conditions.

He leaned back in the driver's seat.

Seven blueprints.

By the most conservative estimate, each was worth at least five hundred points.

Seven copies meant at least three thousand five hundred points.

If there were high-tier blueprints among them, a single one could be worth thousands.

Total gains would be between five thousand and ten thousand.

Adding the existing one thousand two hundred and twelve points.

Six thousand to eleven thousand.

Enough to unlock one or two new nodes.

He took out his notebook from the drawer and flipped to a new page.

Zhou Yuan communication restored. Mission successful. Seven blueprints. Dawn Legion has conditions. Detailed report at 10:00 AM tomorrow.

He closed the notebook.

The wasteland outside the window was pitch black.

But the panel in the cockpit glowed with a faint blue light.

The two dark red records in the signal log were still flashing.

The Iron Hoof Legion remained silent to the north.

The Dawn Legion's response was on its way from the south.

Two directions.

Two kinds of signals.

Time was running short.

Lu Chen closed his eyes.

10:00 AM tomorrow.

He fell asleep.